Five nurses take top GEM Award honors

Five nurses from around the country have been chosen as national winners in the GEM (Giving Excellence Meaning) Awards program presented by Nurse.com, the premier healthcare brand of OnCourse Learning.
“Our ...

There's more to her than mental illness

Regardless of what specialty we choose in nursing, we all have defining moments that shape our practice. Some are heartwarming, others heartwrenching. Many positive and negative interactions have influenced my pr...

Legos: An unusual, yet effective, nursing tool

At age 40, Victor Ty, RN, left a 20-year career in textiles and apparel design and technology to pursue a degree in nursing. After earning his associate’s degree in less than two years, he became a staff nurse ...

Bilingual nurses improve patient safety

In 2013, nearly 62 million U.S. residents — 21% of the population — spoke a language other than English in the home, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Statistics like these are raising questions in the hea...

Nurses strive to improve care of veterans in rural areas

More than 5 million military veterans live in rural areas of the country and experience difficulties obtaining access to health services and wellness promotion efforts. Nurses are among those trying to change tha...

Working long shifts with little sleep can be a part of the job for nurses and other healthcare professionals, and can cause burnout and extreme fatigue, according to recent studies.
Now a small study shows that short-term sleep Read More

Nurses may choose to temporarily leave the profession for any number of reasons. Perhaps it's to raise a child or recover from a temporary disability. Perhaps it's to try another profession or pursue another goal. Regardless of t Read More

I’m in the big room now, wired for audiovisual. I have four techs for support. My back-to-back sessions may have 1,000 participants. The demand is high because I’m speaking about how to find the right job for the 15th time at Read More

Patient safety is vital and cannot be underestimated — and neither can workplace safety for nurses. In 2013, the Bureau of Labor statistics indicated specific healthcare settings, such as hospitals and long-term care facilities, Read More

Through all the changes in the 21st century, nurses remain the backbone and lifeblood of healthcare. I am passionate about nursing and am confident nurses will continue to have myriad opportunities that will help build successf Read More

Chances are, at some point in your career you will face discord with a patient or a patient’s family. Sometimes a conflict arises over how the family member is being cared for or the patient may be anxious about the plan of car Read More

When I speak about nurse staffing issues at conferences, one question consistently comes up. Nurses ask, “If I am not scheduled to work, and work calls, what responsibility do I have to come in?” While there is no legal requi Read More

My name is Alex, and I’m in my senior year at the University at Buffalo School of Nursing. As your Nurse.com student blogger for the 2016-2017 school year, I will be sharing my nursing school experiences in my blogs, as well as Read More

As an employee, one of the first items you should review in your employee handbook is the code of conduct for employees and its disciplinary policies and procedures. What the employer adopts as its policy for employee conduct and Read More

As our nation becomes increasingly more diverse, so does our patient population and healthcare workforce. Diversity in healthcare manifests itself in many different and beautiful ways, but one of the most important is the number o Read More

In 2013, nearly 62 million U.S. residents — 21% of the population — spoke a language other than English in the home, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Statistics like these are raising questions in the healthcare arena abou Read More

During your career, you sometimes may find yourself focused on what’s right in front of you; a challenging day or contentious colleague may be all that you can see when your work days are difficult or demanding.
The day-to-da Read More

Travel nursing is a unique and interesting way to practice your specialty area of nursing. You're able to travel and live in different places and meet new colleagues, and you're challenged to provide nursing care in various set Read More

You may recall that I posted a blog on volunteering in March, and a blog by Keith Carlson posted on June 28 also focused on volunteering. I have received several questions about volunteering and its legal ramifications since then. Read More

Workplace culture is a 21st-century business buzz phrase. While we may choose our workplaces based primarily on salary and benefits, culture is another important consideration when looking for employment. Culture reflects the orga Read More

I have received several comments about advance directives, including that sometimes they are not followed by hospital staff. The importance of doing so as a healthcare provider was underscored in a recent case (Doctor’s Hospital Read More

These days, many nonmedical professionals are changing careers and shifting into nursing and healthcare. We’re seeing nurses entering the profession from careers in industries as varied as insurance, banking, publishing, retail Read More

Many of you have asked about your duty to act in an emergency situation — for instance, when you are not at work and come upon an accident with injuries, a person who is experiencing a medical event, or perhaps even a woman in l Read More

Legislative agendas at the local, state and national levels often pertain to public health, nursing practice and other aspects of healthcare. Every day, legislators make decisions that affect nurses' careers and the communities th Read More

I frequently get comments from readers who have experienced burnout in at least one of the positions they have held. Nursing staff burnout is, according to a June 16 article in Becker’s Infection Control & Clinical Quality, Read More

A nurse wrote about her situation in a physician-owned hospital where she worked in the OR for three years. One day, she was verbally berated by one of the surgeons in front of everyone in the OR and was forced to transfer to the Read More

For nurses with previous careers in the business world, you may have taken part in a SWOT analysis at one time or another to determine a business strategy or direction. For nurses new to this concept, this is a handy framework for Read More

I often get questions from readers about whether they should pursue a graduate degree in nursing or obtain a law degree. This question is a difficult one to respond to because the choice is very much a personal one and depends on Read More

Have you ever fallen asleep without turning off the TV and awakened in the middle of the night to the words, “breaking news” flashing on the screen? That’s what happened to me in the early morning hours of Sunday, June 12, a Read More

You nominated them, we selected them, and now it’s time to meet the 2016 GEM finalists.
The past six months have been busy and exciting ones at Nurse.com, as we worked on the first phase of our 2016 GEM Awards program — t Read More

Have you heard that volunteering is a great resume-builder for nurses? It’s true. And there are many more good reasons to incorporate volunteerism into both your personal and professional lives.
Resume building
You probably do Read More

A reader submitted a question about my March 16, 2016, blog that discussed a nurse’s concern about extending her volunteer services of delivering meals and eating with elderly residents to providing personal care to one particul Read More

As a nurse, how much blood, sweat, tears, money and time have you invested in your professional development? As a nursing professional in the 21st century healthcare workplace, how valuable do you feel?
For many nurses, singing Read More

When a claim is filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, it has the authority to investigate the claim and determine if there is reasonable cause to believe discrimination has occurred. In order to do so, each party Read More

As a nurse practitioner, you must know legal obligations when prescribing medications. You have the authority, based on your state nurse practice act, to prescribe medications for the patients for whom you provide care. For exa Read More

Our Spanish for Healthcare Providers Focused CE Series includes an overview of medical Spanish as well as specialty-specific terminology, allowing you to tailor your learning experience to your specific area of practice: ow.ly/QAfb306GtfG… See MoreSee Less

Joanna Cruz is 17 and still in high school, but she knows more than many adults about how to handle an agitated patient with dementia who is batting away a spoonful of applesauce. Read more: ow.ly/joiC306TPvZ via Washington Post… See MoreSee Less